Thermal limitations in a rapid-fire multirail launcher powered by a pulsed magnetodhydrodynamic generator

The operation of rapid burst firing multirail electromagnetic launchers of solids is numerically simulated using unsteady two-dimensional and three-dimensional models. In the calculations, the launchers are powered by a Sakhalin pulsed magnetohydrodynamic generator. Launchers with three and five pairs of parallel rails connected in a series electrical circuit are considered. Firing sequences of different numbers of solid projectiles of different masses is modeled. It is established that the heating of the rails is one of the main factors limiting the performance of launchers under such conditions. It is shown that the rate of heating of the rails is determined by the nonuniformity of the current density distribution over the rail cross-section due to the unsteady diffusion of the magnetic field into the rails. Calculations taking into account the unsteady current density distribution in the rails of a multirail launcher show that with an appropriate of the mass of the projectiles (up to 800 g), their number in the sequence, and the material of the rails, it is possible to attain launching velocities of 1.8–2.5 km/s with moderate heating of the rails.     

Thermal instability in a rotating anisotropic porous layer saturated by a viscoelastic fluid

Linear and non-linear thermal instability in a rotating anisotropic porous medium, saturated with viscoelastic fluid, has been investigated for free-free surfaces. The linear theory is being related to the normal mode method and non-linear analysis is based on minimal representation of the truncated Fourier series analysis containing only two terms. The extended Darcy model, which includes the time derivative and Coriolis terms has been employed in the momentum equation. The criteria for both stationary and oscillatory convection is derived analytically. The rotation inhibits the onset of convection in both stationary and oscillatory modes. A weak non-linear theory based on the truncated representation of Fourier series method is used to find the thermal Nusselt number. The transient behaviour of the Nusselt number is also investigated by solving the finite amplitude equations using a numerical method. The results obtained during the analysis have been presented graphically.     

Thermal instability and natural convection in a fluid layer over a porous substrate

The stability and natural convection in a system consisting of a horizontal fluid layer over a layer of porous medium saturated with the same fluid, with heating from below, are considered. The upper surface is either rigid or dynamically free with surface-tension effects allowed for. The solution is obtained using a parallel flow assumption for constant-flux thermal boundary conditions for which the onset of cellular convection corresponds to a vanishingly small wavenumber. The critical Rayleigh number and Nusselt number are found to depend on the depth ratio, the Darcy number, the viscosity ratio, the thermal conductivity ratio, and the Marangoni number. Results are given for a range of values of each of the governing parameters. The results are compared with limiting cases of the problem for standard terrestrial conditions or microgravity, and are found to be in agreement.Es werden die Stabilität und die freie Konvektion in einem System mit einer horizontalen Fluid-Schicht über einer Schicht mit einem porösen Medium, welches mit diesem Fluid gesättigt ist, untersucht. Das System wird von unten beheizt. Die Oberfläche ist entweder unelastisch oder frei von dynamischen Oberflächenspannungen. Die Lösung wird mit der Annahme einer parallelen Strömung mit konstanten thermischen Randbedingungen erhalten. Für diese Randbedingungen bedeutet das Einsetzen der zellularen Konvektion eine verschwindend kleine Wellenzahl. Die kritische Rayleigh- und Nusselt-Zahl hängen von dem Tiefenverhältnis, der Darcy-Zahl, der Viskosität, der thermischen Leitfähigkeit und von der Marangoni-Zahl ab. Für jeden Parameter werden Ergebnisse für einen bestimmten Wertebereich gegeben. Die Ergebnisse werden mit einigen Fällen mit Standard-Erdbedingungen oder Mikrogravitation verglichen und stehen mit diesen in guter Übereinstimmung.     

Thermal convection in an infinite porous medium due to a source in sphere

A simple mathematical theory is proposed using the Brinkman model, for the analysis of the free convection motion in an unbounded porous medium, inducedby an instantaneous point heat source which is enveloped by a solid sphere. The theory consists of retaining only the leading terms of the series expansions of the dependent variables in terms of the Rayleigh number and is valid in the limit of small Rayleigh number only. The heat generating rate is assumed to be not excessive so that the induced flow is slow. The evolution of the flow field is demonstrated by drawing the streamlines at various times and the results are delineated by comparing them with those of the Darcy flow model. The significance of the presence of the enveloping solid sphere is highlighted.     

Thermal instability in an anisotropic rotating porous medium

 Influenced by the article of Vadasz [1], an analysis has been carried out to investigate convective instability due to centrifugal acceleration in an anisotropic porous medium. Results reveal that anisotropy in thermal diffusivity destabilizes the system whereas that in permeability has the opposite effect. Received on 26 February 1999     

Thermal convective instability of a horizontal saturated porous layer with a segment of inhomogeneity

Convective stability is studied for an infinite horizontal porous layer containing a vertical porous segment of different properties. The critical Rayleigh number depends on the aspect ratio of the nonhomogeneous region and the ratios of permeability, thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusivity of the matrix. Incipient streamlines may be either symmetric or antisymmetric.     

Thermal convection of a viscoelastic fluid in an open-top porous layer heated from below

Buoyancy-driven convection of a viscoelastic fluid saturated in an open-top porous square box is studied based on a modified Darcy's law. The results are compared with those for a Newtonian fluid under the same boundary conditions and those for the viscoelastic fluid under a closed-top boundary. In particular, the critical Darcy–Rayleigh number Ra for onset of convection is determined first by using the linear stability theory. Then the effects of the relaxation time and the retardation time of the viscoelastic fluid on the heat transfer rate and the flow pattern are investigated numerically. The results reveal some interesting properties of thermal convection for the viscoelastic fluid. The relaxation time makes the fluid easier to destabilize while the retardation time tends to stabilize the fluid motion in the porous medium, and larger heat transfer rate can be achieved with larger value of the relaxation time and decreased retardation time. Furthermore, larger relaxation time facilitates earlier bifurcation of the flow pattern as Ra increases, but bifurcation can be postponed with increased retardation time. For larger ratio of relaxation time over retardation time, the flow pattern is more complicated and the frequency of flow oscillation also increases. Finally, large ratio of relaxation time over retardation time can make the open-top boundary impermeable due to the viscoelastic effect on the fluid.     

Thermal convection in a porous layer: Effects of anisotropy and surface boundary conditions

The theory describing the onset of convection in a homogeneous porous layer bounded above and below by isothermal surfaces is extended to consider an upper boundary which is partly permeable. The general boundary condition p + λ ∂p/∂n = constant is applied at the top surface and the flow is investigated for various λ in the range 0 ⩽ λ < ∞. Estimates of the magnitude and horizontal distribution of the vertical mass and heat fluxes at the surface, the horizontally-averaged heat flux (Nusselt number) and the fraction of the fluid which recirculates within the layer are found for slightly supercritical conditions. Comparisons are made with the two limiting cases λ → ∞, where the surface is completely impermeable, and λ = 0, where the surface is at constant pressure. Also studied are the effects of anisotropy in permeability, ξ = K _H /K _V , and anisotropy is thermal conductivity, η = k _H /k _V , both parameters being ratios of horizontal to vertical quantities. Quantitative results are given for a wide variety of the parameters λ, ξ and η. In the limit ξ/η → 0 there is no recirculation, all fluid being converted out of the top surface, while in the limit ξ/η → ∞ there is full recirculation.     

Thermal instability of a porous medium with relaxation and inertia in the presence of Hall effects

Summary  The thermal instability of a Rivlin–Ericksen fluid in a porous medium is considered in the presence of a uniform vertical magnetic field to include the effect of Hall currents. For the case of stationary convection, the magnetic field has a stabilizing effect on the system, whereas the Hall current has a destabilizing effect on the system. The medium permeability has both stabilizing and destabilizing effects, depending on the Hall parameter M. The kinematic viscoelasticity has no effect on stationary convection. Graphs have been plotted by giving numerical values to the parameters, to depict the stability characteristics. The magnetic field (and corresponding Hall currents) introduces oscillatory modes in the system, which would be nonexistent in their absence. The sufficient conditions for the nonexistence of overstability are also obtained. Received 20 May 1999; accepted for publication 8 March 2000     

THERMAL CONSOLIDATION OF LAYERED POROUS HALF-SPACE TO VARIABLE THERMAL LOADING

An analytical method was derived for the thermal consolidation of layered, saturated porous half-space to variable thermal loading with time. In the coupled governing equations of linear thermoelastic media, the influences of thermo-osmosis effect and thermal filtration effect were introduced. Solutions in Laplace transform space were first obtained and then numerically inverted. The responses of a double-layered porous space subjected to exponential decaying thermal loading were studied. The influences of the differences between the properties of the two layers (e.g., the coefficient of thermal consolidation, elastic modulus) on thermal consolidation were discussed. The studies show that the coupling effects of displacement and stress fields on temperature field can be completely neglected, however, the thermo-osmosis effect has an obvious influence on thermal responses.     

Thermal dispersion and viscous dissipation effects on non-darcy mixed convection in a fluid saturated porous medium

Mixed convection flow and heat transfer about an isothermal vertical wall embedded in a fluid saturated porous medium with uniform free stream velocity is considered and the effects of thermal dispersion and viscous dissipation in both aiding and opposing flows are analysed. Similarity solution is not possible due to the inclusion of the viscous dissipation term, series solution is obtained, first and second order effects of dissipation revealed that viscous dissipation lowers the heat transfer rate. Observations also revealed that the thermal dispersion effect enhances the heat transfer rate and the effect of viscous dissipation is observed to increase with increasing values of the dispersion parameter. Received on 21 March 1997     

Thermal stretching in two-phase porous media: Physical basis for Maxwell model

An alternate yet general form of the classical effective thermal conductivity model (Maxwell model) for two-phase porous materials is presented, serving an explicit thermo-physical basis. It is demonstrated that the reduced effective thermal conductivity of the porous media due to non-conducting pore inclusions is caused by the mechanism of thermal stretching, which is a combination of reduced effective heat flow area and elongated heat transfer distance (thermal tortuosity).     

Forced convection of gaseous slip-flow in porous micro-channels under Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium conditions

Steady laminar forced convection gaseous slip-flow through parallel-plates micro-channel filled with porous medium under Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium (LTNE) condition is studied numerically. We consider incompressible Newtonian gas flow, which is hydrodynamically fully developed while thermally is developing. The Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer model embedded in the Navier–Stokes equations is used to model the flow within the porous domain. The present study reports the effect of several operating parameters on velocity slip and temperature jump at the wall. Mainly, the current study demonstrates the effects of: Knudsen number (Kn), Darcy number (Da), Forchheimer number (Γ), Peclet number (Pe), Biot number (Bi), and effective thermal conductivity ratio (K _R) on velocity slip and temperature jump at the wall. Results are given in terms of skin friction (C _f Re ^*) and Nusselt number (Nu). It is found that the skin friction: (1) increases as Darcy number increases; (2) decreases as Forchheimer number or Knudsen number increases. Heat transfer is found to (1) decreases as the Knudsen number, Forchheimer number, or K _R increases; (2) increases as the Peclet number, Darcy number, or Biot number increases.     

Thermal nonequilibrium,non-darcian forced convection in a channel filled with a fluid saturated porous medium—A perturbation solution

This paper concentrates on the analysis of the thermal nonequilibrium effects during forced convection in a parallel-plate channel filled with a fluid saturated porous medium. The flow in a channel is described by the Brinkman-Forchheimer-extended Darcy equation and the thermal nonequilibrium effects are accounted for by utilizing the two energy equations model. Applying the perturbation technique, an analytical solution of the problem is obtained. It is established that the temperature difference between the fluid and solid phases for the steady fully developed flow is proportional to the ratio of the flow velocity to the mean velocity. This results in a local thermal equilibrium at the walls of the channel if the Brinkman term which allows for the no-slip boundary condition at the walls is included into the momentum equation.     

Thermal radiation effect on mixed convection from horizontal surfaces in saturated porous media

An analysis is presented to investigate the effect of radiation on mixed convection from a horizontal flat plate in a saturated porous medium. Both a hot surface facing upward and a cold surface facing downward are considered in the analysis. The conservation equations that govern the problem are reduced to a system of nonlinear ordinary different equations. The important parameters of this problem are the radiation parameter R, the buoyancy parameter B, and the freestream to wall temperature ratio T _∞/T _w for the case of a hot surface or the wall to freestream to wall temperature T _w /T _∞ for the case of a cold surface.     

Boiling in a porous bed

Experimental observations of the heat generation rate at which a porous bed dries out have been made for bed particle sizes ranging from 245 to 4,783 microns in beds up to 40 cm deep with different coolants. The governing mechanisms are identified and used to develop models of the observed phenomena.